Florida Keys reopens to visitors after Irma

The Florida Keys reopened to visitors exactly three weeks after Hurricane Irma struck the island chain on Sept. 10.

Local officials chose Sunday as the official reopening date, based on the completion of significant infrastructure repairs, almost total restoration of utilities, and the necessity of resuming the tourism-driven economy that employs about 50 percent of the Keys workforce.

Although Key Largo and Key West were least affected by Irma, a number of lodging properties and other tourism facilities in the Keys have not yet resumed normal operations. Recovery efforts are ongoing, especially in the Lower Keys and parts of Marathon that were hardest hit by the storm.

“It’s been a road of recovery and continues to be so, but we’ve made enough progress where the infrastructure is ready to accept visitors,” Mitchell said. “By the visitor coming down, they’re helping in the recovery and being part of that process.”

Visitors will find the Key West and Marathon airports open, and the Port of Key West hosting cruise ships again. The Florida Keys Overseas Highway has passed inspection and is drivable throughout the 125-mile island chain.

Key West’s Southernmost Point marker, an iconic photo stop that designates the continental United States’ southernmost landmass, is being repainted after damage from Irma.

A number of Keys special events scheduled for mid-to-late October — including Key West’s Fantasy Fest, Marathon’s Stone Crab Eating Contest and Key Largo’s Humphrey Bogart Film Festival — are to take place as planned, organizers said.